Buttery Marrow and Fenugreek Curry

The first of many homegrown marrows and because the accepted stereotype of South Asian girls is that 'we' all make a mean curry, I thought I would not disappoint. But the truth is, everyone these days claims to make an awesome 'curry'.  I am honestly not one of those people. 

I have made a vegan Marrow Curry with Chickpeas in this past, but this one is rich and buttery, that even my mother would approve. 

I love fenugreek and when I saw it being sold at the market, I could not resist its distinct fragrant.  I am pleased I picked it up as it enhanced the plainness of the marrow curry. 

I am sharing this with The Veg Hog  who is hosting #EatYourGreens Vegetarian and Vegan Blog challenge this month, please do join in there is plenty of time.   For those of you who have not participated before, please Follow this link on how to join in.   

Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans

A little while back, I was lucky to stumble upon a vegetable market with reasonable priced vegetables and 2 proper bunches of herbs for £1.50.  I mixed it up with dill, coriander, parsley and mint.

After making the Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as Ash-e Jo or Ash-e-Jow . I was looking forward to making and eating this Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans.  I have been intrigued by it for a long time, but never got round to making it at home until now.

I know the green bobbing on the top looks like green olives, but its actually dried limes.  I showcased it early on in the month In My Kitchen blog post if your interested in seeing what it looks like in dried form.  Its the first time I have used dried limes in cooking which was interesting, they certainly do impart an interesting soured flavour that I don't think would have been captured by lime zest or even lime juice. 

I am sharing this Iranian  Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans with #EatYourGreens Vegetarian and Vegan Blog challenge hosted by me this month and the event is also co-hosted by The VegHog.  Please do join in.  For those of you who have not participated before, please Follow this link on how to join in .  I am also sharing this green bowl with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.; and as this Stew contains a whole tin of kidney beans with My Legume Love Affair #118 hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitchen.  The challenge was initiated by  Susan and hosted by Lisa's Kitchen. 

Red Tomato, Fenugreek, Paneer Coconut Curry

Over the weekend, we cleared the greenhouse and harvested the last of the ripe red tomatoes and some of the green, the rest were removed and burned.

Mung Bean and Fenugreek Waffles

I made these 'Mung Bean and Fenugreek Waffles' a little while ago with some of my mothers home grown chillies.  

As a waffle fan: both the sweet and savoury variety, I was quite excited that I stumbled upon a recipe that allowed me to make something different with mung beans, as normally its some kind of cold bean salad or spicy dal.

...but as soon as I tried a mouthful, the excitement was soon replaced with disappointment.  I found these mung bean waffles earthy in taste and dense in texture.  Maybe they are meant to be that way, but I think it could do with a little tweaking to make it more palatable.   You can find the  slightly recipe below, if like me your curious to give it a go.

I am sharing some of these Mung Bean and Fenugreek Waffles with My Legume Love Affair#40 that is being hosted this month by Suma of Veggie Platter. MLLA was founded by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Mung Bean and Fenugreek Waffles
Makes about 4
Ingredients
175g mung beans
2 - 4 green chillies, sliced
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
salt to taste
Method
Soak the mung beans overnight or at least 4 hours.  Drain and blend in a food processor to a smooth paste with the green chillies and 120ml water.
Add the remaining ingredients to the batter and combine. 
Cook the waffle batter according t the waffle machine.  serve hot with butter and a green chutney.   Adapted from Tala Dalal's New Indian Vegetarian Cookery.

Radishing Rice

One of my absolute favourite ways to eat this fuchsia root vegetable is raw, sliced in half and then dipped in equal mix of salt and red chilli powder. The radish delivers a crisp and crunchy burst of peppery mist, enhanced further by the salty-chilli flavours.

Another one of my favourite radish recipe is a South Asian curry known as Mooli Methi Salan (Radish Fenugreek Curry). Mooli Methi curry is traditionally made with fresh with fresh fenugreek.  Fenugreek is an acquired taste, I really like it and am actually growing some in the garden.  Its really hard to describe the flavour of fenugreek, its pungent and has bitter undertones.  Anyway, I would have made this spicy curry dish, but I wanted something a little lighter, yet comforting and ended up making a savoury rice.  In place of the fresh fenugreek I’ve used dried fenugreek also known as kasoori; kesuri methi.  You can find dried fenugreek, (as well as cassia bark and black cardamon) at most South Asian grocers, and even in some of the larger supermarkets, but if you can't find any you can substitute it with another green leaf, though the flavour won't be the same.

This savoury Radish and Fenugreek rice dish turned out to be quite flavourful.  I had under estimated the heat of the fresh green chilli finding the seeds a little intense, so you may want to use only one, rather than two as well as remove the fiery seeds.

When my mother cooked savoury Pilau rice dish, she would just *throw in all the whole spices into the pot to infuse the rice.  It was quite normal for us to be pushing the cassia bark to the side of the plate; or picking out the cloves and peppercorns, so the appearance of these inedible whole spices don’t bother me.  However, I understand not everyone is like me and may find them unsightly, even off putting.  So with the exception of the coriander and cumin seeds, you may wish to tie the spices in a muslin cloth whilst cooking.

Radish and Fenugreek Rice

Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or butter)
I medium onion, finely sliced
Optional: Cassia bark*
Optional: Black Cardamon*
1 ½ teaspoon mixture of cloves, cumin, coriander and black peppercorns*
1 -2 green chillies, sliced
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
185g or1 cup of Basmati rice, washed and drained
450ml or 2 cups water
Optional: 2 – 3 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
250g radishes, whole or chopped in half if you wish

Method
Heat oil in a pan with a tight fitting lid. Add the onion and all the spices and cook until the the onion is meltingly soft. Stir in the rice and the fenugreek leaves, dry fry for a couple of minutes, before pouring in the water. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and add in the radishes, do not stir in as they will overcook.

Put the lid on and cook on low heat for 25 – 30 minutes. Stir rice and radishes well, before serving. 

If you wish, serve with natural yogurt or soured cream.